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Cleanin waffle irons.

Something not mentioned.

[Is it cold in here?]

Between asking Claire for makeouts and going to fetch his toys I wonder if Pintsize has a thing for Claire.

Welcome, new person!

It was classier than his first meeting with Tai.

[KOK]

The name of the letter E is a sound I don't know if exist in English. It is the sound of German e in e.g. Nebel, or French é in e.g. été.

There are 2 "e"s in Nebel, so I'm not sure if you mean the first or the second, but both sounds exist in English. The first like the "ei" in neighbor, while the second is more like the "u" in pull (which makes sense, weil in Althochdeutsch es Nebul buchstabiert war), although now I think that isn't a perfect match. Of course, we could solve all of these problems if we used the IPA.

I mean the first. And it is not at all like the ei in neighbor. It is a single vowel, not a diphton. And neither of the parts of the diphton is an E sound.

If I should write those two words in the Danish spelling system, I would write nebel and næjbor. The e/æ distinction carries meaning in Danish. E.g.
hele (whole) vs. hæle (heal, the body part) or seler (suspenders, safety belts) vs. sæler (seals, the animal).

In one of Pohl's Gateway novels, he introduces a character named Payter. Laster he reveals that his name is Peter, which he pronounces in German. So it seems that to Pohl the German long e (a single E sound) sounds like the English ay (an Æ sound glideng to I). I never would have guessed. IPA uses the Esso logo e for what is to a Dane the Æ sound.

[westrim]

It's all your fault, you know.
I went to DQ and got a Root Beer Float.

Mission accomplished!

Except not really, because I can't stand root beer floats. Its constituent parts, yes. I can even have a glass of root beer while eating ice cream. But put the ice cream IN the root beer, and my stomach does flip flops and my nose and taste buds both say "ew." It likely has to do with a bad July 4th experience that, in brief, involved too much food and the rapid evacuation thereof. A root beer float was dessert that day.

Honestly, of all the things I said I didn't expect root beer to be the thing that touched off a wave of comments.

and a grossly undereducated majority of speakers. 

Did any (living at the time) language until recently have an educated majority of speakers, gross or otherwise?

[Loki]

...I was going to suggest Ancient Greek, but then remembered that they were vastly outnumbered by their slaves.

[Skaltura]

Pintsize face in panel 4 slays me.

Well played Jacques, well played.

[KOK]

Claire is very obliging, all of a sudden.

[DSL]

I wonder now, will there be a flurry of retroactive initiations? Will Hannelore insist upon it, if only to make the OCD books balance -- and will she relent when she realizes it applies to her? What will Faye do?

Then again, said the man sitting at the desk out in the middle of nowhere, Monday will probably be something completely different.

[Is it cold in here?]

Giving in to Pintsize once is like giving in to a toddler once. The long term effects make it unwise.

[trstn]

She likes it. I'm certain.

I seriously laughed at the "Haikus are easy" poem..

I'm not getting into the pronunciation thing too far, but one thing I always found fascinating (as a German native and former "Anglistik" student). German vowels don't move. English do.  Look very closely at the phonemes, the sounds you say. (Exceptions prove the rule, like the word "a", while the letter "a" is pronounced differently and has 2 phonemes, go try not to move your jaw and your tongue saying "a". German "a" is one phoneme only, no movement, like in "jar". Probably one reason (combined with those lovely guttural explosive noises we produce; btw the Dutch can do that much better) that German is considered harsh by some people.

however, fresh pot, have a nice day.

[Indicible]

If I should write those two words in the Danish spelling system, I would write nebel and næjbor. The e/æ distinction carries meaning in Danish. E.g.
hele (whole) vs. hæle (heal, the body part) or seler (suspenders, safety belts) vs. sæler (seals, the animal).

So, Danish is closer to old Norse, German has changed due to the influence of Germanic languages, and English is a mish-mash of Norse, Germanic languages and French. And some Gaellic for good measure.

Claire bends over for Pintsize. Okay, that came out wrong.
Could we have a kinkster in the making? (I swear, if Jeph puts Allie and Lisa somewhere, my squealing will mimic Hannelore's...).

[K1dmor]

 Claire Doesn't care if Pintsize is sad, it's for their safety! They can't let him cry!. 

[J]

claire is now officially pintsize's favorite person

[Lubricus]

So, Danish is closer to old Norse, German has changed due to the influence of Germanic languages, and English is a mish-mash of Norse, Germanic languages and French. And some Gaellic for good measure.

Norse was already different from the proto-German language - modern German hasn't evolved from Norse. Only the North Germanic languages (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish) have, though Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have borrowed lot from West Germanic languages. Of course, the Germanic languages were a lot more similar back when Norse was spoken.

[nosaJay19]

I'm most intrigued by Pintsize's puppy-dog eyes.

[Is it cold in here?]

Marten doesn't look as embarrassed as he might.

But then, he himself has put one of the library employees in bondage.

[Indicible]

But then, he himself has put one of the library employees in bondage.

That was Tai (she was tied down... Sorry...).
Does it really count as bondage, though? As I recall, it was a simple shibari harness. Her limbs were still free.
Still begs the question of where he found the ropes in the first place (bondage ropes need to be prepared, to make them safe and comfortable.). Rule of cool?

[Loki]

The strip in question.
At least one of her arms is bound.

[Is it cold in here?]

Isn't this the first time a woman has ever consented to one of Pintsize's ideas?

How is Hannelore reacting to this?

[westrim]

I presumed the ropes were Tais, and she brought them along since she planned to ask him for help. She was planning a date, after all.

[Loki]

Anyone want to obsess over how Pintsize is spanking her at the wrong angle despite theoretically knowing better? Maybe he hits really softly? What is the maximum speed at which you could paddle her at this angle without it hurting? I assume you have to account for factors like jeans thickness, the angle, the actual contact surface of the paddle with her body, the pain threshold, and her CBM (Claire Boniness Modifier).

[westrim]

Anyone want to obsess over how Pintsize is spanking her at the wrong angle despite theoretically knowing better? Maybe he hits really softly? What is the maximum speed at which you could paddle her at this angle without it hurting? I assume you have to account for factors like jeans thickness, the angle, the actual contact surface of the paddle with her body, the pain threshold, and her CBM (Claire Boniness Modifier).

As long as I'm presuming things, I presume it simply wants to go through the motions, rather than actually inflict any pain. We don't know its strength anyway- enough to lift a brick or a shinai, but I don't recall any other demonstrations of Pintsizes strength.

By the way, if Claire is worried about sleep and work, why doesn't she just stay with Marten?  His couch is a certified soporific, after all.

[zmeiat_joro]

Why is it "to pronounce" and "pronoun" with an o, but pronunciation without an o?

Latin, basically.

Also... Old Norse IS a Germanic language?

[Sidhekin]

Proto-Germanic gave rise to East Germanic (Gothic and other extinct languages), North Germanic (Old Norse, giving rise to Icelandic and Norwegian, is a sister group to the rest of Old Nordic, giving rise to Swedish and Danish), and West Germanic (the rest of the lot: Anglo-Saxon (an important part of the amalgamate we call "English"), various dialects lumped as "German", and Dutch, which has an army of its own, and is therefore not a dialect, but a language).

[ChaoSera]

Has anyone else noticed how the picture in the 4th Panel changes color when Pintsize hits Claire?

[Loki]

I presume it simply wants to go through the motions

Huh. You are the first person I've met who refers to Pintsize as "it".

@ChaoSera: doesn't for me. Or maybe I have terrible color vision.

[Lubricus]

Old Norse, giving rise to Icelandic and Norwegian

Modern Norwegian is actually closer to Danish than Icelandic, and is normally classed with Swedish and Danish as an Eastern Nordic language, while Icelandic and Faroese are classed as Western Nordic. The latter two are much closer to Old Norse than the former three. Iceland does its best to keep its language unpolluted by foreign influences, and as a result, readers of modern Icelandic can read Norse texts with little difficulty. The Faroese language has also had some conscious protection, but not to the same extent. It has been influence more by both Danish and English than Icelandic has.

[Skaltura]

Has anyone else noticed how the picture in the 4th Panel changes color when Pintsize hits Claire?

Also the shading on Marten's pants is darker.

Which is obvi just because Jeph coloured the two slides that make up the jif slightly differently.

However cue immature jokes about what changes in Marten's pants when the paddle hits Claire in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

[bhtooefr]

I'd venture a guess that, given that AIs in the QCverse are treated as sentient beings with rights similar to those of humans, that the same rules regarding which pronouns to use (read: never "it", unless the subject wants to be referred to as "it") apply.

And, Pintsize identifies as male.

[Sidhekin]

Old Norse, giving rise to Icelandic and Norwegian

Modern Norwegian is actually closer to Danish than Icelandic, and is normally classed with Swedish and Danish as an Eastern Nordic language, while Icelandic and Faroese are classed as Western Nordic. The latter two are much closer to Old Norse than the former three. Iceland does its best to keep its language unpolluted by foreign influences, and as a result, readers of modern Icelandic can read Norse texts with little difficulty. The Faroese language has also had some conscious protection, but not to the same extent. It has been influence more by both Danish and English than Icelandic has.

Okay, so modern Norwegian is also something of an amalgamate.    While the oral tradition is unbroken since Old Norse, the written tradition was Danish until more recent reforms and the invention of a brand new written Norwegian: Naturally, the written tradition has left its marks.

I would object to classing the Norwegian dialects as Eastern Nordic, though; particularly those of the North and the West.

[Lubricus]

The clissification of the Norwegian language has seen more than its fair share of discussion, especially in Norway, of course. But one has to remember that such classification must be based on written languages, and the most common written form of Norwegian (Bokmål) is indeed based on Danish. It has been proposed that the other written form, Nynorsk, should be classed with the Western languages, but even though it is based on Western and Northern dialects, its grammar and syntax is quite clearly Eastern Nordic.

[Akima]

Haiku's need to be about nature or similar topics. So any not based in nature is not in the spirit of Haikus.

The word haiku is
A Japanese noun, you know.
Plurals need no "S".

Unless Claire is a closet sub, indulging Pintsize might be a bad idea, acid tears or not.

[Masterpiece]

words saying you're German

I KNOW WHAT YOUR NAME IS!

(click to show/hide)

but I'm not telling

[Border Reiver]

Haiku's need to be about nature or similar topics. So any not based in nature is not in the spirit of Haikus.

The word haiku is
A Japanese noun, you know.
Plurals need no "S".

Unless Claire is a closet sub, indulging Pintsize might be a bad idea, acid tears or not.

"Might" be a bad idea?

[Sidhekin]

The clissification of the Norwegian language has seen more than its fair share of discussion, especially in Norway, of course. But one has to remember that such classification must be based on written languages, and the most common written form of Norwegian (Bokmål) is indeed based on Danish. It has been proposed that the other written form, Nynorsk, should be classed with the Western languages, but even though it is based on Western and Northern dialects, its grammar and syntax is quite clearly Eastern Nordic.

"Must"?  Says who?   I certainly didn't.

Also, while the tradition of Riksmål and Bokmål goes back to Danish, describing it as "based on Danish" is omitting the reforms that have been made since the 1800s, to bring them closer to Norwegian spoken language.  And since Nynorsk was designed using the same orthography, you could as easily say it too is "based on Danish".  (Drawing the line between those written forms seems strange to me: They are far more similar to one another than they are to either Icelandic or Danish.  I rather suspect those who suggest different classifications of the written Norwegian languages of having an agenda in which the similarity of those languages are ... inconvenient.)

Also also: Grammar and syntax that is clearly Eastern Nordic?  Only if you ignore the differences between it and the certainly Eastern Nordic language (trust me: there are differences), or accept them as Eastern Nordic per definition.  Which seems to make the question moot ...

Bit of a rant, I suppose:

The difference in grammar and syntax between spoken Norwegian and Icelandic is mostly due to the great "simplifications" that Norwegian saw, often attributed to the Hanseatic League and other trade connections, and somewhat parallelling the "simplification" that produced Modern English from Old English (or modern Swedish and Danish for that matter).  Icelandic, starting from the same language as Norwegian, developed in another direction, with less "simplification".

As the Hanseatic League declined, Danish was adopted (also) as trade language in Norway, becoming pretty much the only written language of Norway (until the reforms of Riksmål and invention of Nynorsk).  But at that time, the spoken language had already come most of the way from Old Norse to modern spoken Norwegian.

Most Norwegians take great pride in their spoken language.  And written Norwegian is considered Eastern Nordic only to the extent that it is considered foreign.  Many do speak of them as Danish.  (Or some of them.  I don't approve of drawing a line between them.)

I spoke (wrote) of Norwegian.  If Bokmål is Danish, Norwegian is a spoken language.

[Lubricus]

The clissification of the Norwegian language has seen more than its fair share of discussion, especially in Norway, of course. But one has to remember that such classification must be based on written languages, and the most common written form of Norwegian (Bokmål) is indeed based on Danish. It has been proposed that the other written form, Nynorsk, should be classed with the Western languages, but even though it is based on Western and Northern dialects, its grammar and syntax is quite clearly Eastern Nordic.

"Must"?  Says who?   I certainly didn't.

"Must" in the sense that the written language is less prone to change than spoken language, and because the Norwegian dialects are too dissimilar to easily classify as a language. That's the case with many languages - take German, for instance - several dialects in western Germany are closer to Dutch than written German, so the reason they are specifically "German" is really the fact that they are spoken inside Germany.

Also, while the tradition of Riksmål and Bokmål goes back to Danish, describing it as "based on Danish" is omitting the reforms that have been made since the 1800s, to bring them closer to Norwegian spoken language.  And since Nynorsk was designed using the same orthography, you could as easily say it too is "based on Danish".  (Drawing the line between those written forms seems strange to me: They are far more similar to one another than they are to either Icelandic or Danish.  I rather suspect those who suggest different classifications of the written Norwegian languages of having an agenda in which the similarity of those languages are ... inconvenient.)

No matter how many reforms written Norwegian has had, the language was based on Danish originally, and has inherited many of the characteristics of Danish linguistic tradition. And what do you mean by "Norwegian spoken language"? Bokmål is still closely related to the way people talk in Oslo, which is in many cases very different from dialects across the country. I agree that drawing a line between Bpkmål and Nynorsk is strange, but it is often done nonetheless.

Also also: Grammar and syntax that is clearly Eastern Nordic?  Only if you ignore the differences between it and the certainly Eastern Nordic language (trust me: there are differences), or accept them as Eastern Nordic per definition.  Which seems to make the question moot ...

I cannot be bothered to go into details about how Icelandic differs from Swedish, for instance, in grammar and syntax right now, but I urge you to look closer at the ways the two languages compare to Bokmål.

[Madmartigan]

Very bad idea giving in to Pintsize like that.

Now he OWNS you Claire.

[Zebediah]

So, it turns out that the big dramatic secret that some here speculated that Claire wanted to share with Marten is: No big secret. They're friends, and she just wanted to hang out with her friend, the way friends do.

Which brings up an interesting point: Claire seems to have no other friends, at least that we've seen. OH GOD THEY'VE ADOPTED ANOTHER ONE.

Warning - while you were typing the forum was invaded by rabid linguists. You may want to translate your post into Nynorsk.

[Lubricus]

Yeah, sorry about that! I'll try to keep my linguistic tendencies under wraps. 

[Zebediah]

Not to worry - I'm actually married to a linguist, and I have a fascination with language, so I'm more knowlegable about the various linguistic arguments than the typical layman. So if I state that nearly every language is actually a dialect continuum and that the borders between languages are often fuzzy-to-nonexistant and determined more by politics than anything else, I'm not totally talking out my ass. 

[Loki]

There was a fictional proverb in a book I once read. The proverb said that you can go around the world once without ever noticing how the cultures are changing.

I suppose it's similar to the "water never boils while you look at it" sentiment.

[Y]

I'm wondering if Claire allows it because: she secretly likes it, she likes for marten or any other guy to have attention toward her butt,  College! got to try stuff and do the initiation thing, butts just butts,...

Also marten seems shocked, I wonder if this brings back any memory of being accidentally exposed to some of his mom's stuff, or just plain didn't expect that to happen.

[HueItzCoatl]

Holy shit, the look on his face as Pintsize is spanking her ass....fucking classic. I love her as a character, she's a trip.

[Loki]

I think noone expected Claire to be so nonchalant about it, and I don't think she does this because of some hidden interest. It's like... doing something embarrassing to please a child, like the stereotypical letting your child ride you like a horse.

[pwhodges]

The word haiku is
A Japanese noun, you know.
Plurals need no "S".

And if we're being pedantic, the haiku is based on morae (音 "on") rather than syllables.

[Delator]

For some reason, I was reminded of this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFgR0m-9FmM&feature=endscreen&NR=1

I suspect Claire's sentiments are somewhat similar to Lisa's. 

[Smallest]

Claire is the most indulgent person, but I like the first panel a lot.

[Last_man_sitting]

I think we can all agree that the real reason Marten's so shocked is that Pintsize got to tap pap that ass before he did.

[KOK]

Unless Claire is a closet sub, indulging Pintsize might be a bad idea, acid tears or not.

Look at her face in the last two frames. She does not look as if she is enjoying this.

[pwhodges]

(click to show/hide)

I think we can all agree that the real reason Marten's so shocked is that Pintsize got to tap pap that ass before he did.

That reads like shipping to me; please read the rules and forum advice.

[Is it cold in here?]

There was a fictional proverb in a book I once read. The proverb said that you can go around the world once without ever noticing how the cultures are changing.

I suppose it's similar to the "water never boils while you look at it" sentiment.

I've heard more than one US person report feeling like they had been been through a discontinuous change when they drove across the Mason-Dixon line.